Hey y’all; happy southern food day! In preparing for today’s blog post, I thought: what’s more southern than a potluck? But, what do you bring to the potluck? You could bring an app, side, or dessert. So, you open your Sunday paper and out slides the Parade glossy…and wouldn’t you know, that sweet, red-bearded man from Georgia has an interesting and beautiful looking dish ready for you to make! Of course, when I speak of the red-bearded man, I refer to Chef Kevin Gillespie and by beautiful looking dish I mean his great-grandmother’s warm banana pudding…c’mon, does it get more southern than nana’s banana puddin’? It doesn’t…at least on this blog. I’ve only had banana pudding a few times in my life and always cold and always at a BBQ spot or a picnic/potluck. But, let me tell you: on a cold winter’s night, this stuff hits and wraps you in love and warmth like one of nana’s hand-crocheted blankets.
Making this recipe also allows me to talk about Chef Kevin Gillespie, a true, southern gentleman. You probably have all heard of him by now, but I first discovered him when he was on Top Chef - Season 6, back in 2009. By that time, I was a Top Chef junkie (I started watching in Season 3) and really started to get into food a bit further myself. 2009 also saw me getting into 2 separate dinner clubs where we’d have a group of about 10 people that would take turns hosting dinner and try some new dishes. A couple years down the road, I ended up in Atlanta for a work conference and I knew what I had to do. I took a 40-minute cab ride (mostly in traffic) to (now-shuttered) Woodfire Grill and had the tasting menu with a wine pairing. To this day, it’s still the only menu of which I have a physical copy. It was also the first time I ever had quail and fiddle-head ferns, which are both just adorable.
Be sure to click the link to the recipe below so you can read a hilarious story from Chef Gillespie about the time, as a child, he snuck “some” pudding. I had a similar, albeit not as tasty experience. Growing up, I loved BLT’s. But, I’d had bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes all the time. Yet, it just wasn’t magic like when you tasted a BLT. My young brain deduced: “it must be the mayo!” So, one evening, while my mom was cooking and distracted, I ran down to the kitchen and got a huge tablespoon full of mayonnaise and ran back upstairs. I did it and got away with it - I got the goods and chomped right onto the spoon - only sadness and disgust ensued. But, you can get this banana goodness in your belly by following the recipe below!
Warm Banana Pudding from Parade Magazine, Kevin Gillespie
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean pod, split
Vanilla extract
Sugar
8 eggs, separated (whites in your stand-mixer bowl, yolks in a separate, large bowl)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, cubed
12 oz of pound cake, sliced ¼” thick
½ cup espresso, or strong brewed coffee
8 ripe bananas, cut into ½” coins
½ tsp cream of tartar
Pour the dairy into a large pot, along with the vanilla bean and ½ tsp of vanilla extract, and heat over medium-high, warming for about 4 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat when small bubbles form around the edges. Remove the bean pod, scraping the beans into the warmed milk and half-and-half.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375, separate your eggs, slice the pound cake, and peel/slice up the bananas.
Add 2 cups sugar to the bowl of yolks and whisk until creamy, and pale yellow, about a minute. Then, sift the flour into the whipped yolks, adding the salt and stir to combine. Whisk in ¾ cup of the milk mixture, then whisk the contents of the bowl into the pot of warmed vanilla-milk.
Place the pot over medium heat and cook until thickened, about 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Then whisk in the butter and set aside.
Meanwhile, toast your sliced pound cake in the oven for 6 minutes. Flip the sliced and continue baking for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush both sides of the cake with espresso/coffee.
Ladle 1.5 cups of the pudding into the bottom of a 2 qt casserole dish. Top with half of the sliced pound cake, breaking up a couple of pieces to fill the gaps. Top with half of the sliced bananas. Cover with pudding, the remainder of the cake and bananas, and top off with the last of the pudding.
Place the bowl of egg whites in your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk, and whip until frothy, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together ½ cup of sugar and the cream of tartar in a small bowl. After the whites are frothy and thick, add in the sugar-tartar mixture while the processor continues to whisk the whites into soft peaks.
Transfer the meringue to the top of the banana pudding, pressing lightly to seal the edges. Use a spoon or small offset spatula to create peaks and swirls in the meringue. Place in the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes, until the topping browns.
Remove and set aside for about 10 minutes prior to serving. ______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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